Lime-kiln



0. D. PAGE;-

v Lime Kiln.

w M w I `UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

J(J. D. PAGE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MIOHIGAN.

LIME-KILN.

Specifcation forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,50 l, dated April 26,1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O. D, PAGE, of Grand Rapids, in'the county of Kentand State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improveinents inLime-Kilns; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andcomplete description of the construction of the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, inWhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view with one-half of (the cupolaremoved to show the interior. Fi'g. 2 is a transverse Vertical section.Fig. 3 is a transverse horizontal section, and Fig. 4 is aninvertedtrans'verse section of the stack.

Like letters refer to like parts in the several views.

My invention relates to such a construction of kilns that lime-rock ofvarious kinds can be successfully and economioally burned with eitherwood or coal, without the mingling of the ashes with the lime, while thepeculiar form of the cupola and arrang'ement of the furnaces are such asto entirely prevent the escape of the heat (except by natural radiation)either while replenishing the fuel or drawing the lime, and securing atthe same time a nniform burning` of the stone as it descends into thefire.

The kilns are perpetual in their operation, the lime being drawn once infrom three to six hours, and as often replenished with raW stone at thetop of the cupola.

From one hundred and fifty to five hundred bushels can be burned inevery twenty-four hours, according to thesize of the kiln.

In the accompa-nyingdrawings, A represents the stack or cupola. This Iusually construct of cut stone. to thirty-six feet. Its base is fromsixteen to eighteen feet square, and its top from fourteen to sixteenfeet square. I gain access to the top either by a bridge of trestle-Workor by stag- 'pletely covers the opening a.

little downward toward the front, as seen in the figure.

The front wall is arched over, as seen at D, leaving a passage for thedischarge of the burnt linie, as seen at a. This opening is kept closed(except when opened for the discharge ofthelime) by the drop-slide E.This drop-slide is made of a strong plate of iron, which com- It ishinged by a strong round bar lex'tending into the Wall on either side ofthe opening a. The forward end is held up by a catch, b, in the front ofthe Wall. When the drop-slide is closed, the weight of the limestone inthe cupola rests upon the floor O, and the inclined Walls c.

Below the drop-slide E the Wall upon which the hearth rests is inclinedforward and down- Ward, as seen at c, and upon which the dropslide restswhen open, and which supports it in an inclined position, forming aslide for the discharge of the lime into a car placed in the chamberbelow. This car is shown at F, and consists of an iron box with orwithout Wheels, and after the hot lime is discharged into -it, and thedrop-slide E closed, can be drawn out by` the strap or chain F'.

Upon each side of the cupola where it begins to contract, as shown at(I, I construct fire chambers G G, which open into the interior of thecnpola by passages H H H H in the fire-brick lining of the cupola. Theentranccs to these fire-chambers are from opposite sides of the stack,and are shown at I I in cross-Sections, Figs. 3 and 4, the flame fromthe fuel entering the interior of the cupola in a spiral curve, asindicated by the arrows in Figs. 3 and 4.

The interior of the cupola being' slightly Its height is fromtwenty-eight elliptical,th e fiame and heat are thus caused to permeateevery portion of the stone contain ed in it, thus insuring a nniformdistribution of heat throughout the interior.-

The floor of each fire-chamber is provided ing; or it may be built' bythe side of a steep with a grate J, upon which the burning fuel bank.

The interior of the cupola is shown at B. This is lined With fire-brick,and is expanded at the top, as shown at B', and is contracted below theflnes, as shown at O, the front side being contracted less than the backside, as shown in Fig. 2.

At O' is shown a hearth,which inclines a rests. BeloW each fire-chamberis an ash-pit, K, Fig. 2, into which the ashes fall, whether Wood orcoal is used, thus Wholly preventing the admixture of ashes with thelime. This is an important considerat-ion, forwhere Wood is used, if theash is permitted to mix With the lime, the potash forms a solublecompound With carbonic acid, thus much injuring the integrity of thecement formed from the lime in its recrystallization. and in the use ofcoal the ash would much depreciate the quality of the lime for mostpurposesin the ai ts. p

Upon each side of the cupt 1a I provide peep-holes L L', through whichthe operator can inspect the interior of the cupola when in use. Thoseshown at L are divided into two branches toward the interior of thestack, as shown in Fig. 3. These peep-holes L are also used to shakedown the liniestone, after the lime has been drawn, by means of an ironbar introduced into them, and when not thus used they are closed with asquare piece of firebri'ck'.

This kiln can be drawn once in from three to-sixV hours, according tothe quality or kind of stone used, producing about three hundredbush'els of lilne every twentyifour hours, with about two and a halfcords of Wood, accord ing to the size of the kiln and the kind of stoneused.

When the linie is to be drawn, the car F is placed as seen in Fig'. 2,and the drop-slide depressed to the inclined Wall c. A little agitationwith an iron rod will cause the lime t) descend into the car, and whenthis is full the drop-slide can be replaced and the car withdrawn. Thewhole operation will not consume more than two crthree minutes, andscarce any abatement of heat is produced.

The partially-burnt stone is then shaken down by introducing a bar intothe peep-hole, and the cupola replenished from the top by theintroduction of raw stone.

In other forms of kilns the drawing is done with shovels, and itrequires from one to two hours to draw the lime, and then it requiresabout two more hours to restore the heat to ,its proper standard,thereby saving by my improvement, both in time and fuel, abouttwenty-five per cent.,for it is necessary to draw four times in everytwentyfour hours.

What I claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The herein-described fire-chambers G G, with spiral flues, which areso arranged upon each side of the cupola that the fiame is caused topenetrate every part of the interior in a i spiral curve, as and for thepurpose specified;

2. The drop-slide E, for discharging the burnt limestone, and keepingthe cupola;`

tightly closed when not being discharged,the same being constructe-d,arranged, and operating as and for the purpos'e specificd.l

3. The car F, in combination with the drop'- slide and kiln, arrangedand Operating as stt forth.

O. D. PAGE.

Witnesses:

W. H. BURRIDGE, I. HoLMEs.

